Although I have spent over 30 years teaching the US- midwestern heartlands ("real America"), I have spent more than 18 years living and researching in Germany. I was one of the first US scholars to examine women's leadership in the European Union, and have followed Angela Merkel for over 25 years. My major field is comparative public policy, centering on the United States and Europe, including comparative migration & integration policies, the impact of generational change on political culture, all aspects of German unification, and the evolution of "national identities." I pursue interdiscipilinary research topics that often "look outside the box" - and prefer humor over heavy theoretical jargon in my efforts to reach out to non-expert audiences. My students have referred to my courses as "life-transforming," and my peers sometimes label me the "Crimson Queen," due to my rigorous, native-speaker-with-a-red-pen editing skills for a number of Europe-related journals.